"Well Tenvor, I'm not just trying to be kind; I'm stating fact. While I might have finished that bug alone, your folks help certainly made it easier for me, and likely ensured I survived to tell the tale. It's easy to forget a small victory when you suffer a large loss." she says while reaching out to give his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
Oh! He's got some muscle there. Not surprising, but not really apparent under that shirt either. Maybe Kaloh had the right idea . . . she muses; But not now. Later. Maybe.
When Rickety enters and sits, she takes a seat in the chair opposite his.
"Please pass my condolences along to his family when you next speak to them, and my regret that I could not help the man that was carried away."
She sighs;
"To be fair Rickety, it was the very least I could do for you and your folks after all the kindness you've shown me.'
She thinks for a moment;
"While I will graciously accept anything you'd be kind enough to give; aside from a good word with a prospective employer I really wouldn't even know what to ask you for."
And, on to that...I've a deal set up with one such ship that may be a good fit for ya'. A new ship ta' the business, the Oncoming Storm is captained by a fine fellow named Taptap. We've become partners of a sort, an' I kin put in a word for ya' when he comes back. And, he will...owes 'ol Rickety he does.
Fer now...if ya' can help me with a lil' problem, I'll pay a fair wage for it. See, our lookout, a fella' named Lyle Godwin, is missin'. He shoulda' warned us of the insects with his signaling, but it never happened. If ya' go to his lookout at the watchtower, I'd be happy to pay ya' fer your time. Whaddya think?
"Well thank you. And yes; Ms. Brindle has been taking excellent care of me."
As he tells her of the Oncoming Storm;
"A ship that's new to the business you say? That could work out well. Likely a better chance for advancement and profit for me in a crew that's just starting out and hungry. And if you think they are good enough to partner up with, then they would be the type of folks I'm looking to run with. Better for sure than the kind who'd press gang a swab passed out in a bar into service."
She listens to his request.
"I suppose I could check it out for you. Is this something to be done right now or could it wait for morning before I set out? I you need me to go now I'll probably need someone handy with a weapon to go with me, as my magic is nearly tapped out for the day. "
Sunyata seems to shake off any ill effects from the bite, but is losing blood quickly. She takes a step back, and squares her body, then lets out an incredibly loud shout. A "ripple" of air comes out of her mouth and flies at the wereshark.
The blast hits the wereshark, and it staggers under the onslaught.
Belliott takes another mighty swing at the staggering lycanthrope as he brings his axe across in a horizontal swipe. He hits mightily, but only a small cut seems to break through the creature's tough hide.
The pirate just nearby Belliott swings as well, though his weapon seems to be ineffectual.
The pirate at Jack's side attacks, as does the one at the rear deck. One makes contact, but his weapon is turned aside by the creature's skin.
Tilly and her ally assault the 4-armed beast, trying desperately to keep its spinning form at bay. The pirate opposite Tilly makes contact and does damage, but then the beast turns on him....
Jack scores a hit, his blade shocking the beast, quite literally, as blue light arcs across it. In a similar manner, Rush's summoned elemental scores a hit, and one of Tap's arrows flies in directly after. The two attacks slam into the wereshark, and it stumbles back. It looks about to respond, but the light leaves its eyes, and it tumbles over backwards to fall into the sea below.
The wereshark by Belliott launches into a desperate attack at the pirate before him, stabbing and biting with wild fervor. He hits with both, his Trident plunging through Belliott's shoulder and then he pulls the man in for his bite.
His ally near Jack assaults the first mate! His trident darts out, but Jack blocks it again and slashes back, scoring another hit on the Wereshark! This one seems to lay it low, and the wereshark falls to one knee, then crumples down to the deck.
The four armed monstrosity launches its body at the pirate across from Tilly, savaging him. He hits with two of his claws and rips the man open. The pirate falls to the deck, bleeding out.
Rush
Tap
Fishies
Sunyata
Pirates
Tilly
He seems a bit concerned, and winces, then covers it with a smile. Well...there's a good chance he jus' passed out on the rum again...happened before. But, with the bug attack... He shrugs. Up to you then, miss, if ye' can make the trip now, I'll send the capn' of our militia with you. If not, then he'll have to wait till the morn.
"That's good to hear. Always better to have a willing volunteer than a person waiting for a chance to escape or turn the tables by sticking a knife in your back. I've been fortunate to deal with only the first kind of ship, though you do hear stories. . ."
Malvessa thinks things over for a moment.
I've got a few good spells left, but not much for attacks. Still time is a factor here. I guess I know what I should do.
"If Tenvor is able to come with me, we should be able to go check it out today. I've not much left for another battle today, so I think discretion will be the order of the day. I'll prioritize our safety first. Better that we run off and come back later with reinforcements I'd think. Does that work for you?"
Tap hops forward, hoping to assist the two pirates facing the four-armed monstrosity. He fires an arrow at it as he runs, while continuing to encourage his pirates to battle with bits of song and dance. He he, ho ho ho! Double ye rum! Kick em in the bum!
Yes, that sure does...I thank ye kindly, Miss Aroll, and young Tenvor is already chomping at his bit, after the madness of today. He wants more than anythin' ta' keep his people safe.
Rickety then calls in Tenvor and explains, and it's impossible to miss the eagerness in the young man's eyes. He is ready to go in his seemingly unused chainmail, with his sword at his side and loose in its scabbard. The leather looks to have his initials burnt into it.
You head out, on a trail that winds through the jungle behind the Commons, then follows the ridgeline as it climbs along the headland. The way is rocky and steep, overgrown with jungle foliage, and drops precipitously to the cove 50 feet or more below.
You hear some sounds ahead, around a bend in the path...sounds like some scrabbling in the foliage and some snorts.
Malvessa blushes a bit at the comparison to a saint of Besmara.
"I'm just trying to repay all your kindness to me. And Tenvor would be perfect."
After they set out, Malvessa lets Tenvor lead, making small talk along the way.
Using her hanbo as a walking stick, she easily keeps up with the larger man over the uneven terrain.
When they reach the bend, she taps him on the shoulder and whispers; "There's something up ahead, be ready."
She also chitters softly at Kaloh waking him up from a light doze.
*"Watch behind us please. In case something tries to circle around."*
She then cautiously peers ahead to see if she can spot the source.
Seeing one of their foes finally dispatched, Rush yells to the elemental to go and aid Jack, "the one with the loudest sword". With its 100 foot fly speed and perfect maneuverability, the little spark soars around the edge of the ship and moves into flanking with Jack and makes it's attack.
plus
Rush keeps trying to move towards Sunyata, who seems to just keep getting further away. He goes up and around the battle to the "south" to get next to her.
Jack laughs, a short laugh, but full of glee. One more bastard down.
He turns to see a horrific monster from the deep, a four-armed thing and rushes over to attack, and stumbles, but makes his best attempt to make it look as scary as hell, drunken master style.
Tenvor seems a bit shy at first, but then opens up. It turns out that he's only seen 19 summers and has no significant other. He's been here for nearly two years, and before that was a draftee into a Sargavan unit that was tasked with securing a beach up north for a new outpost. Well, things went south, and so did he - Rickety took him on after he hitched a ride on one of Captain Pegsworthy's ships - The Drake. The amiable pirate released him from service and allowed him to stay on with Rickety. It turned out that he had more experience in soldiering than just about anyone at the outpost, so he was a shoe-in for the job.
My job is my life, at least right now. There are so many dangers here about us, and Rickety's eyes have always been to the sea. Why, just last week, there were these monkeys...I, huh?
He hunkers down behind you and looks out, sharing your view of what look to be boars - two of them. They're blocking the way ahead, which is a narrow five-foot wide path with a steep cliff on one side, and a steep slope up on the other side.
Tenvor looks at it and tsk's. Don't want to fall down there...that's a steep drop. What should we do?
Malvessa enjoys the light conversation with Tenvor as they walk towards the guard post.
Hmm. He's younger than me. Probably explains the shyness.
Seeing the boars, Malvessa thinks about what she has read, and tries to recall what she knows about them. As she does, the beginnings of plan begins to form.
She whispers to Tenvor: "I'm not worried about the cliff, I can fly if I need to. You however, cannot, so don't fall off. I've got few options, but will need you to be ready to take advantage of things"
You can tell that these are normal boars - they don't exhibit any unusual behavior. You're aware that these creatures are ferocious and can gore with their tusks. They're animals and aren't incredibly intelligent, but your mind-affecting magics should affect them.
Sunyata, though injured, leaps back in, her legs sweeping up in a double kick as her entire body launches, horizontally parallel to the surface of the deck. The blow lands, but can't seem to make it through the beast's hide. Sunyata recovers, and actually gets her feet under her before hitting the ground.
The pirates, now armed with silver weapons, spread out and attack the creatures! Unfortunately, they are not effective at all.
Belliott roars and swings again.
Belliott hits, but it seems as if the wereshark fully resists the damage.
Tilly attacks the creature before her, but she is thrown off as the creature turns to her, its arms swinging wildly
The pirate near Jack and the two near Sunyata also attack, though their weapons seem nearly useless. They prove that fact.
Jack slashes out at the injured wereshark, but can't seem to connect. Rush's summoned elemental, however, hits with a powerful blow, and electricity arcs all over its body.
Tap's arrow flies out and slams into the four armed creature. It lets out a gurgling roar in response, salty water spilling out of its open maw.
Still standing, though hurt, the creatures attack!
One Wereshark connects, and runs through a pirate with its trident
The creature hits Jack, scoring a strong blow with its trident.
The 4-armed beast looses its attacks on Tilly, and one claw slices across, laying her low.
Rush
Tap
Fishies
Sunyata
Pirates
Tilly
"I appreciate it Tenvor. I have a trick to handle them if you can't scare them off, but I can't do it to both of them at once. If you can hold them off for a few moments, this shouldn't be a long fight if it even comes to that. In the meantime, I'll need a moment to prepare before you try to scare them off."
Malvessa removes a small pin from where it was pushed into the lining of her coat, and pricks the side of her finger. Squeezing out a tiny drop of blood, she speaks words of a harsh and guttural tongue before tucking the pin back away. She then looks up and says "Whenever you are ready Tenvor."
Jack attacks the four-armed monster
Taptap opens his jaw wide and directs a macrosonic standing wave into the head of the four armed creature. Cacophonous Call. Dc will 15 i think.
Finally getting around to Sunyata, Rush casts magic weapon on her. .
Move action; draw the healing wand.
Sunyata, seeing that her strikes have not proven effective, rushes at the wereshark, trying to wrap it up in a low tackle. As she does, the wereshark stabs down with its trident. The creature puts its hips back to dodge the tackle, and drives its trident down to stab through Sunyata's shoulder.
The pirates attack!
Belliot swings at the wereshark with his axe, roaring in anger.
The two pirates near Sunyata do much better with these attacks, laying into the wereshark with their silver weapons. The hits seem to hurt the beast quite a bit. It falls backwards, pinwheeling its arms, then tips over to splash down into the water below.
The two men near Jack hit the beast, but their weapons do nothing. Jack shakes his head, then shows them how to do it. He slashes across, taking the beast full on with his potent weapon. The shock arcs across the beast, touching along its rubbery skin and crackling away. The lycanthrope falls to the deck, heaving out its last breaths.
The two pirates near the four armed beast hit it, but the creature seems to just fly into a rage. It shakes off the effects of Tap's spell, and launches a series of attacks at the next pirate in line.
The creature hits her with a bite and another claw, sending her to the deck, bleeding out onto the damp wood planks.
[b]Rush
Tap
Fishies
Sunyata
Pirates
Tilly
Seeing the enemy in front of him go down, Rush will take a quick glance around the ship. Seeing the problems being caused by the big guy, he moves (double move) towards it with the wand out.
Tap steps forwards and fires two shots at the sea monster with four appendages.
Jack laughs in glee, and hums along to Tap's battle tune as he runs over to attack the four limbed creature. He thrusts his sword in, in what was destined to be a mighty blow, but, alas, slipped in between the creatures limbs.
Okay, ready? After making sure, he leads the way out around the bend before you, yelling and clanging his sword against his shield. Hya, hya...git!
The boars seem to have nothing of it...they snort, stamp, and charge! Tenvor turns, to explain the obvious over his shoulder. Here they come! He then readies his swing, should they come within range.
"I'm as ready I can be. Go get 'em Tenvor!"
As Tenvor tries to chase off the boars, Malvessa cringes as they react in exactly the opposite manner as they'd hoped.
It's never the easy way is it?
Focusing her gaze on the second boar, she calls upon her gifts and attempts to put the oversize and overly angry pig to sleep.
She then steps back to give Tenvor more room to swing his sword.
The boars charge in, and you cast your hex upon one of them. The boar in the front doesn't even notice as its companion falls, fast asleep.
Tenvor lets out an adolescent "whoop", then prepares to swing.
Once the boar gets close, Tenvor expertly swings across with his sword.
His blade cuts across the beast's snout, splitting it and sending blood flying. The boar, in turn, attempts to gore the young man. It misses its mark, and its tusks swipe across one of Tenvor's thick greaves, doing nothing but marring the shiny piece.
Malvessa holds her breath as the charging boar attacks Tenvor, but releases it when he not only wounds the beast, but defends against its attack.
Be careful Tenvor! Hold it off just a bit longer!"
She then turns her attention to the remaining animal, and focuses again on her gifts to cause the other boar to sleep.
Moving up to Tenvor, she taps his shoulder from behind.
"Quick! While they are asleep; finish them off!"
The boar shakes off the effects of the hex, so lost is it in its ferocity. Tenvor tenses up and attempts to skewer it. He, in fact, does, his blade plunging deeply into the beast, which shivers, then falls.
The other boar still sleeps, seeming quite peaceful. Tenvor looks back to you. Are you alright?
Malvessa snarls out a curse in polyglot as the boar shrugs off her magic. As she's preparing herself to try the hex again, Tenvor's sword renders the point moot. Letting out a slow exhale of breath she says:
"I'm fine Tenvor. My abilities can be very effective, but even on my best day, if they are strong enough, focused enough, or in this case; mad enough, they can be resisted sometimes."
She looks down at the boar dying at their feet.
"Nice swordsmanship there. If you wouldn't mind, the other will be asleep for a few minutes, but it might be better if you finish it off before it wakes up. Oh! You didn't get hurt did you?"
She eyes him up and down, looking for any injuries.
Suddenly, a colorful bird flaps out from the trees atop the slope up, and flies in between you. It squawks out at you, in a surprisingly good version of common. Shoo, fly, don't bother me! It then repeats itself a few times in perfect mimicry, then flies off further along the trail you'd been following. Tenvor looks back to you in alarm.
That's Rotgut...Godwin's bird. It keeps him company at the watchtower.
"I'm glad you didn't get hurt. I can imagine what the tusks would do to cloth and flesh alone."
Malvessa watches the parrot with interest, and is about to comment when Tenvor explains that the bird belongs to the man they are looking for.
"We should get a move on then, and see what's going on at the tower."
She opens her familiar carrier, and Kaloh climbs up onto her shoulders.
Gently patting the reptile's head and says in common:
"Keep your eyes open. little one."
The tiny dinosaur chirps in response.
*Of course*"
She then stows her walking stick in her backpack. Reaching in, she pulls out her crossbow, followed by a quiver of bolts which she belts around her waist before cocking and loading the weapon.
Settling everything to her satisfaction, and weapon at the ready, she says to Tenvor "Lets go."
The pirates surround the four armed monster and attack! Between their slashing cutlasses and Tap's precision firing, the beast collapses to the ground under the weight of the attacks.
In the meantime, Sunyata, Belliott, and Kerruk go about removing the grappling hooks and sending them back into the ocean below.
Soon enough, you come upon Godwin's Watch, which is little more than a covered platform elevated sixty feet atop wooden poles and accessed by a crude stair. You see a number of broken rum bottles on the ground below the tower.
Tenvor calls up. Godwin, you up there? Rotgut here is a bit uppity about something! No answer comes back, and Tenvor looks to you, his brow furrowed.
At the the tower, and spotting the remains of all the rum bottles littering the ground, Malvessa says;
"He seems like a the type who's dedicated to their job. . ."
She takes a moment, and invokes her flight hex in preparation, and then holding her loaded crossbow at the ready takes an appraising look at the area for any possible threats.
Rush will rush over to Tilly to heal her with some spells.
I don't know if you can hear me, but its probably better if you're unconscious for this. Sometimes a cleansing wind is a scouring one.
Tenvor leads up the ladder and onto the tower's simple platform, where you find the twisted remains of a rope hammock and a few scattered items of clothing. Lying beneath the hammock, with one boot on and the other lying across the floor from it, is the flyspecked corpse of an elderly man. He is recently deceased, and one side of his neck is black and swollen to the size of a melon. A dried ring of foam cakes the man's beard and moustache around his lips. The parrot flaps over, alights on the corpse, and squawks again. Shoo, fly, don't bother me!
Tap turns his song towards a soothing laconic sea shanty, easing tired muscles and sore backs of his sailors. Let us get to Rickety's with all haste!
Tilly comes back to the world of the living with a gasp and begins blinking away blood and the moisture that seems to be always present on the deck of the ship. She recovers slowly, but does so, and within a few minutes is more morose about their lost crew than she is concerned with herself.
You take stock of the crew and find that they're weary and down a bit, but Belliott is quick to cheer the victory and order up extra rum rations for everyone to ease any pain and let them get back to rest. Some of the crew search the bodies of the beasts before pushing them back into the dark waters below. Alas, they have nothing of interest, save for some large tridents made of steel and bone somehow forged together - the bone mostly for the look of them. Your smith, Regdrum, seems quite interested in their craftsmanship, and asks that you keep them for inspection later.
The rest of the night passes without interest, thankfully for most, and the next day dawns with sunshine...though Rush already knew that. You set out for the last leg of your journey back, and by early afternoon you have arrived at Rickety's once again. Knowing the drill by now, you anchor the Oncoming Storm out in the bay, and Rickety himself comes out in a bit, on a small boat of his own. He has three of his fellows with him, and grins widely as he comes on board.
Back already, good Captain? Glad to see the ship is well, and ye are as well, I'm hopin? What can 'ol Rickety do for ye this time?
As she follows Tenvor up the ladder, Malvessa's nose wrinkles at a familiar aroma.
Someone or something died up here
Cautiously peering onto the platform, she sees the corpse.
"I'm sorry Tenvor. . ."
She looks at the body, and the surrounding platfoorm to try to figure out what might have caused his death.
With the things Rush has seen over the past few weeks, I think he would want to keep some of the skulls to be mounted on or near the prow of the ship (with permission, of course) as a warning.
Let us mount the skulls, especially that multiarmed fish we killed....I wonder if it would have made good eating? We will tell other pirates that is what we do on our ship, in any case.
Well Rickety, we just made a quick run to offload loot at a port. We pay our debts, especially to our friends. Besides, we want some additions made to the ship. A ram. A beautiful ram. A ram that sailors will whisper about in nightmares. Also, we will need a few more crew I think...Crew good with a cutlass and sail, maybe a bit of magic in their fingers. Someone special, not the usual lout, if you know what I mean.
As you look about the area here, you see a very fine looking mace, perhaps a bit surprising in the domain of this old pirate. With a quick check, you see that it's magical. Your attention is drawn, however, to the harbor outside of Rickety's small settlement. There, a ship drops anchor.
Rickety looks at the ship with a grin. A ram, eh? Now that's bold...I like it! By them skulls there, it looks like ye've had a time of it; I'm glad ta' see ya' made it back sound. Why dontcha' come on inta' drydock and make yerself at home.
the discussion started around here: https://paizo.com/campaigns/ToLiveInInfamyASkullAndShacklesAP/discussion&am p;page=46#2272
"I'm by no means an expert in the first place, but I have no idea what caused his death. Maybe if the body was fresher, I could have figured it out . . ." she says with a note of frustration in her voice.
Interesting. The mace appears enchanted. Let's see if I can figure more about it.
"Tenvor, this mace of his seems pretty nice. Do you think anyone would object if I kept it? Or did he have a family that might want it back?"
Before he can respond, the movement on the water catches her eye.
"Hey. It looks like a ship is coming in too."
Rush would subtly try to keep a loose eye on Sunyata, curious about how she takes being "home" after such a short time away.